Javier Mascherano | Barcelona & Argentina

Main menu

Mascherano backs Martino appointment

August 1, 2013 · isport

Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano has backed the club’s new manager Gerardo Martino to be a success at the club. Despite several fans calling the appointment of the former Paraguay boss a shock, the Argentina international believes this is just reward for a man who has achieved almost everything with Newell’s Old Boys and added that his lack of experience in European competition will not be an issue.

Martino was unveiled as the new Barcelona manager on Friday and his first job in Europe arguably braces him for the arguably the biggest task in the continent – that of taking over one of the best football clubs in the history of the game. The 50 year old replaces the departing Tito Vilanova, who has stepped down from his role as Barcelona manager after a relapse of his cancer.

And according to the former Argentina international skipper Javier Mascherano, Martino will be able to adapt seamlessly to European football and he is a shrewd enough tactician to adapt the winning formula that held him in such good stead in South America to European competitions as well. The former Liverpool man further stated that he doesn’t know much about Martino except that he has a 15 year coaching career, most of which had been spent with the Paraguay national team and he has achieved great results with them as well.

He further mentioned that he has never worked under him and doesn’t know what to expect but added that from what he has seen, he had completely changed the way Newell’s Old Boys play football. Javier Mascherano admitted that the brand of football Martino believes in is the one that Barcelona play and this makes it easier for the Argentine manager to adapt his style to the club and lead it to further success.